


Final Bout

by Dolimir



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Episode Related, M/M, None - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 07:29:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/795449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dolimir/pseuds/Dolimir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair is having a hard time getting over Roy's death. Can Jim make it better?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Final Bout

Not mine. But no money was made, so hopefully no foul.

*-*-*-*-*

Last week I asked for some BtVS snippets for my son. One of the people who provided one was Desidera. Her requested payoff snippet was: "Both think that the other is hitting on them, and do not know how to let the other down gently Then decide that they don't want to. Someone gives them a miss leading clue. " While this isn't exact, it's close enough to dance. I think. Could be wrong. 

Set after "Sweet Science."  
Rated "R" for language.

* * *

"Sandburg, get your ass in the truck!" 

Blair tried to focus on the grumpy sentinel sitting behind the steering wheel, but the world wouldn't stop spinning long enough for him to get a clear picture of Jim's mood. "What is it with you and my ass, man?" 

"What!?" 

"You're always, move your ass here, or get your ass over there. If one didn't know better, one would think you had something for my ass." Blair snickered drunkenly to himself, fumbling with the door handle to the truck. 

Jim growled. "Good thing one knows better." 

Blair frowned as he tried the handle again. "Unlock the door, man." 

"It _is_ unlocked." 

Blair rattled the handle, but couldn't seem to make his hands work properly. 

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Jim groaned, putting the truck in park and reaching across the cab to open the door, knocking Blair backward. 

Blair blinked up at Jim from the pavement. "See, now you're knocking me on my ass." 

Jim sighed loudly as he got out of the truck and walked around the vehicle. He held out his hand toward his friend, but his drunken roommate swayed and slowly laid back onto the pavement. 

"Come on, Sandburg, get your ass off the ground." 

Blair's chest heaved in silent laughter, but he made no effort to sit up. "Why are you here, Jim? I didn't ask you to come get me." 

"Sharita called," Jim said, leaning forward and grabbing his friend's hands. "She was afraid you'd try to drive home." In one swift movement, Jim had Blair over his shoulder, and turned to put him in the truck. 

"Can't drive drunk. My roommate would give me a DUI." 

"Bet your sweet ass I would." Jim slapped Blair's hands away as he strapped the grad student into the seat belt. 

"There you go with my ass again." 

"Yeah, what can I say, Chief," Jim said sarcastically, making sure his roommate's hands and feet were in the truck. "I've wanted your ass for ever." Rolling his eyes, he shut the door and jogged back around the truck. 

"That's what Roy said," Blair said, aloud, but to himself, as Jim climbed back behind the wheel. 

"He said what?" 

"Nothing." Blair groaned and leaned his head slightly out the window, letting the cool air roll over his face. 

Jim drove the short distance home in silence. 

* * *

Jim reached over and shook his nearly unconscious roommate. "We're home, Chief." 

"Quit," Blair whined, slapping ineffectively at Jim's hands. 

"I'll quit as soon as you get out of the truck." 

"Fine. Whatever," Blair snapped, throwing his shoulder against the door as he opened it and fell to the pavement. 

"Give me strength," Jim breathed out, then got out of the truck to help his friend. 

Jim shut the truck door, then growled as he grabbed Blair's jacket and pulled the grad student to his feet. "Pull it together, Sandburg. I'm not hauling your ass up three flights of stairs." 

Blair's body convulsed with silent laughter and he firmly pushed away from Jim and moved toward the lobby of their building. "Admit it, man. You've got it bad for my ass." 

Jim shook his head as he followed his roommate into the elevator. 

Blair leaned against the elevator wall, a purely malicious smile crossing his face. "Admitting it is the first step to getting over it." 

"Getting over what?" 

"My ass." 

"I think you need to get over it, Sandburg." 

The elevator dinged to a stop and Blair pushed past Jim and wiggled his rear. "You have no idea what you're missing, Jim. Once you've had a Sandburg ass, you're ruined for life." Blair fumbled his keys out of his pocket and barely managed to unlock the door. 

"Yeah, I sort of gathered that by the trail of bodies you and Naomi have left behind." 

Blair stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned slowly to face the detective, who was shutting the door. "You son of a bitch. You fucking son of a bitch! You leave Naomi out of this, you jerk." Blair moved forward, pushing Jim into the front door. "You can say anything you want about me, but if I ever hear you say another word about Naomi, I'll clean your fucking clock. Do you understand me?" 

Jim nodded, his eyes wide in surprise. "I'm sorry, Chief. That was totally uncalled for. I... I don't know what got into me." 

Blair breathed angrily, but didn't say anything, just continued to look at Jim with disappointed eyes. 

Jim felt his own anger rising. "Look, what do you want from me? I'm tired, I'm cranky, and I sure as hell didn't want to go out and pick up your drunk ass." 

"So, who asked you?" Blair shoved backward into the middle of the front room. 

"You have to put this past you, Sandburg." 

Blair crossed his arms over his chest like he was cold. "Oh? Like you put away Danny or Matt or Sam or Incacha?" 

"Damn, you don't play fair. Do you, kid?" Jim rubbed his fingers over the top of his head and leaned back against the door. 

"Who's playing, man? Who's playing?" Blair rocked his upper body back and forth slightly. 

"Getting drunk every weekend isn't going to bring Roy back." 

Blair stopped moving and whispered, "No, but it dulls the pain." 

Jim pushed himself off the door and closed the distance between them. "I know," he said softly, resting his forehead against Blair's. "But the pain does dull after time. Trust me, I know." 

Blair trembled with repressed pain, and stepped away from Jim, wrapping his arms around his chest again. "He wanted me, you know?" 

"What?" 

"Roy." 

"He wanted part of the Sandburg ass, but I couldn't. I just couldn't, Jim. And now he's gone and I'd give it to him in an instant if that meant he wouldn't die. I'd do anything to let him have it. Anything." 

"I didn't know...I mean... I had no idea... that you were..." 

Blair's laughter had a slight hysterical tinge. "I'm not." He turned and walked to the balcony window. "But what if I'd done it? Maybe...maybe he'd be alive right now." 

"You can't know that."" 

"No?" Blair looked up at him, lost. "I was afraid, Jim. Afraid of my feelings for him. Afraid of what that would make me. And now look at me. I have nothing." 

"You have the memory of his friendship," Jim said quietly, wincing slightly as he did, knowing how lame it sounded. 

Blair laughed again, longer and harder, until he was hiccuping back the tears. "But I have no memory of the warmth of his body, the strength of his arms." He shook his head in disgust. "Listen to me, carrying on. Sharita's in just as much pain." 

"Does she know..." 

Blair rolled his eyes. "Of course she doesn't know. It was years ago; and believe it or not, Roy was as straight as I am." Blair threw back his head and laughed. When he calmed down, he whispered, "Man, I've got to get to bed." 

"Sandburg--" 

Blair raised his hand, stopping the words in Jim's throat. "Just let it go, man. Just let it go." And with that, he disappeared into his room. 

* * *

"It lives!" Jim chuckled as Blair stumbled out of the bathroom around noon the next day. 

"Shhh!" Blair shushed, with exaggerated movements. 

"It sounds like you got a really bad case of sentinel hearing this morning." Jim leaned against the kitchen island. "I've made you some of that tea I fixed last weekend, the stuff you said that helped." 

Blair grimaced at the thought. 

"Sentinel taste, too, I see." 

The grad student flipped him the bird, which only made Jim laugh again, then stumbled to the kitchen table. 

Jim set the mug of warm liquid in front of Blair, then ruffling his hair, said in a bright obnoxious voice, "Good morning, sweetheart." 

"Fuck you," Blair said between clenched teeth. 

"Well, if you insist, but I thought we'd wait until after you showered." 

Blair blinked up at him with owlish eyes. "What?" 

"Well, since you kept offering your ass to me last night, I thought I might take you up on it today." 

Blair's eyes widened in growing horror. "I what?" 

Jim sat on the edge of the table and cupped Blair's chin in the palm of his hand. "I believe your exact words were 'once you've had a Sandburg ass, you're ruined for life'." 

Blair pushed his chair back, out of Jim's reach. "You're fucking with me, right?" 

The sentinel stalked slowly toward him, leaned his head down a hair's breath above Blair's lips and whispered, "Yeah, I am, Chief." 

Jim winced slightly as Blair smacked him in the solar plexus. 

"That's so not cool, man." 

"Neither is having to get out of bed to haul your ass home at two in the morning." 

Blair sunk back down into his chair. "I'm sorry, Jim. Really. I just...I've just been having some trouble processing, ya know?" 

Jim sat in the chair next to him. "I know. But you've got to stop drowning your sorrows, Chief." 

"I will. I swear," Blair vowed, then took a tiny sip of tea. He cleared his throat once, then looked up at his sentinel with worried eyes. "Did I...uh... did I say anything...else... last night?" 

"Like what?" 

"I don't know. Anything off the beaten path?" 

Jim chuckled and patted Blair's arm twice as he stood. "Off the beaten Sandburg path? I don't even want to go there." 

"Don't blame you, man." Blair grinned, wryly. 

Jim moved back into the kitchen. "So what are your plans for today?" 

"I don't know. Sleep, maybe." 

"Probably wouldn't hurt." Jim turned around to face his partner again, and was stunned by the look of longing he saw in his roommate's eyes. He swallowed hard once, then whispered, "What?" 

Blair shook his head, as if trying to clear his vision. "Nothing." He stood, but found the path to his room blocked by the presence of his roommate. 

"What?" Jim asked again, in a gentler tone. 

Blair shook his head, indicating that he couldn't or wouldn't answer. 

Jim cupped Blair's left cheek in his palm, not surprised when the grad student leaned ever so slightly into it. "I'm not Roy," he whispered. 

Blair frowned. "I know that." 

"I'm not going to die." 

"You can't make that promise, man. You're a cop, after all. People take pot shots at you all the time." 

"I know what you're thinking," Jim said gently, his thumb caressing Blair's cheek, while his index finger smoothed over his unshaven jaw. 

Blair's stance was challenging. "Oh?" 

Jim smiled tenderly. "You're wondering if you have the courage to tell me how you feel about me." Jim moved with Blair as the younger man tried to step back. "You're wondering how your straight roommate would feel about putting his arms around you and telling you that you _are_ loved." 

Blair tried to speak, but only a strangled cry escaped his lips. 

"I know, because that's what I'm wondering." 

Jim smiled shyly as he saw the light of understanding dawn in his guide's eyes. 

"What are you saying, Jim?" 

"I'm saying I can't let you leave this loft again without knowing what it feels like to hold you in my arms." 

"Wha-Why?" 

"Because I love you." 

Blair blinked. "Simple as that?" 

Jim leaned forward and gently brushed his lips over Blair's. "There's nothing simple about love, Sandburg." 

"But you haven't..." 

"Yeah, what's your point? Neither have you." 

Blair blinked twice, then leaned in toward Jim, opening his mouth to accept his sentinel's tongue. The kiss was needy, hungry, gentle and all-consuming. They both broke apart when the need for air became more demanding than their need for each other; then smiled shyly while they caught their breath, standing incredibly close to each other. 

"I don't ever want you doubting how I feel about you, Chief. I may not be that great with words, but my inability to express myself doesn't negate how I feel about you." Jim whispered into the shorter man's ear, rubbing his cheek in Blair's hair. 

"I think you're doing a great job of expressing yourself," Blair whispered back. 

Jim waggled his eyebrows and leaned his head toward the stairs to his bedroom. "I think we need to...discuss this further." 

"Discuss?" 

"Yes, discuss. Now get your ass upstairs." 

"Man, I knew you had a thing for my ass." 

Laughter reverberated around the loft as they raced upstairs. 

\--End-- 

* * *

End Final Bout by Dolimir: Dolimir@aol.com

Author and story notes above.

  
Disclaimer: _The Sentinel_ is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount. 


End file.
